#I'd never noticed this parallel before!

[anderstrevelyan]

Baldur's Gate 1, every time you load it up:

Sceleritas Fel circa Baldur's Gate 3, "My liege, I do believe we've been quoting it wrong all this time":

[gghostwriter]

You’re the Risk, I’ll Take it

Spencer Reid x BAU!Fem!Reader

Summary: The three times Spencer followed advice and the one time he didn't (or as I'd like to better explain it, the three times Spencer fails to flirt and the one time it worked)

Warning: fluff! Just fluff!

A/n: I wanted to write something cute this time with Season 1 Spencer in mind--one of the best eras if you ask me. Hopefully I did him justice in this. The idea of this cute baby boy trying to flirt is too precious honestly. Also, if a guy did the last act for me, I'd fold like a lawn chair, yep. Risk by Gracie Abrams was on repeat while I was writing this and no proof reading was done. Let me know what you think!

Main masterlist

The first move Spencer tried was advised by Derek Morgan, the renowned ladies man

“Kid, admit it. You like her,” Morgan pestered him with a slight smile on his face. 

Spencer scoffed, trying to throw him off from the truth but monumentally failing. “S-she’s my closest friend. We joined the team at the same time, of course I feel most comfortable with her,” he noted his companion’s eyebrows raising higher and higher with each word. “Plus, she likes hearing what I say even if it has no relation to the case. She asks me questions and genuinely remembers.”

Now it was Morgan’s turn to scoff. “You could be talking about Star Trek and it’s physics mistakes and she’ll still hang on to every word you say.” 

“Actually, there aren’t that many scientific errors in Star Trek. Especially considering—”

“Reid.” 

“Right,” he nodded once, trying to push away the urge to continue further. “That still doesn’t mean I like her.” 

Morgan tapped the wheel twice before turning to face his partner. “Then answer me this. How do you feel when she walks through the office doors?” 

“Happy, I get the same feeling when I see you or Elle come in too,” he found his fingers very interesting then. Like they held the key to unlocking the mysteries of Dark Matter and the answer to the controversial scientific theory ‘Do parallel universe exist?’. He wasn’t telling the whole truth—didn’t want to because how could he, a man of science, explain the other bodily reactions he has when you walk in a room. How he hears his heart stutter in his chest with just a glimpse of you—the first time it happened, he thought nothing of it, but by the third, he considered making an appointment with a specialist for possible heart arrhythmia. How he sees the room brighten when you smile in his direction—perhaps light sensitivity, and how he feels his body heat up when you utter the words ‘Good morning, Spence.’—possibly hot flashes. Self diagnosis that he ruled out once he found you to be the common denominator. That left him with a riddle, a personal conundrum he lost countless of sleep over trying to solve.

“That’s a lie, Reid. You can’t be that happy to see me. You never blush like a tomato when I enter the room. For Greenaway, I could see it but for me, nu-uh,” he argued back. “Okay, what about when she’s not there, what do you feel then?” 

“Sad, similar to how I’d react with you and Elle,” he blurted out another half truth. Another surface level answer that doesn’t fully cover how lost he feels without your comforting presence beside him, how gloomy any room he enters in without you in it, and how incomplete his days were without hearing your voice. 

Morgan snickered. “Lies, you have to learn how to lie better to fool an FBI profiler, Reid. You don’t think I—the team, notice that you’re quieter when she isn’t on the case with us?”

“Wait. Wait, the whole team?” His voice goes up an octave. You were part of the team, did that mean you knew of the effect you had on him too? “D-Does everyone have the same idea as you do? Everyone?” 

“Not everyone, kid. Your secret is still safe,” He smiled wide like a cat that caught the canary. “So it’s true then, you like her.” 

Spencer knew there was no escape from trap, he was just glad that his secret still remained classified from the other party involved. His shoulders sagged as he nodded to confirm Morgan’s findings.

“So what’s your play then?”

His head whipped to face his companion so fast he felt his meticulously styled hair escape the confines of his ears. “Play? There’s no play. Nothing. I’m not going to do anything and this conversation stays between us.” 

“Oh c’mon lover boy, you have to do something,” Morgan challenged. “Y’know she likes you back, right?” 

“No she doesn’t! I mean, why would she?” Spencer rambled on, unable to comprehend what Morgan was saying. “She’s her—beautiful, smart, and cool. Every case we get, there’s at least one police officer hitting on her. And I’m me—I talk too much and get awkward in every situation. The exact opposite!”

“Reid, don’t sell yourself short. She likes you, trust me on this.” He paused, listening to the update on the intercom before continuing on. “So here’s what you’re going to do. Compliment her outfit, girls appreciate that. Easy enough, don’t you think?”

Spencer really didn’t think so after all he had the tendency to go off on a tangent whenever he talks to you but he agrees nonetheless. If Morgan believes he could do it then he couldn’t mess it up, right?

———

Wrong. It was wrong to take Morgan’s advice. Never mind he can recall everything he has ever read, never mind he has an IQ of 187. What good were his talents if he, Dr. Spencer Reid, couldn’t string the proper sentences along?

It started when you walked into the office wearing this light yellow blouse that made you more radiant than he thought possible. It was as if the a ray of sun had graced the bullpen and stunned his mind into silence, rendering him tongue-tied. All his monologues and hypothesis bouncing around his overactive brain fell away and the only thing he could think of was how pretty you look.

Morgan cleared his throat, bringing him back to the living. Spencer averted his awestruck gaze and busied himself with an imaginary lint on his red sweater. 

“Hey Y/N, did anything good this weekend?” Morgan asked as you settled into your desk adjacent to his.

You shrugged nonchalantly and teased back. “I bet it wasn’t good as yours, Morgan. Picked anyone up last Friday or are your charms no longer working?”

“Huh, i see where this is going. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of bed today.”

Morgan chanced a peek at Spencer and internally groaned. How you didn’t notice the kid’s crush on you was beyond him—all the staring and blushing he does when you’re near was a dead giveaway.

“Reid. Reid,” Morgan called out.

He closed his mouth and gulped. “Hm, what?” 

Morgan pointedly stared at him and titled his head towards your direction. A movement lost to you as you noted Elle leaving Gideon’s office.

Spencer opened his mouth to catch your attention but before he could even utter your name, Elle intervened. “Question for you, the foot path killer. Why’d he stutter?”

You swiveled to face her, not having caught Spencer’s intent to speak to you. The unit chief then called them in for a case—an arson case in a university campus. His shoulders drooped as they rushed to the jet afterwards with no chance of small talk. 

When there was a lull in the plane—case discussion finished, he steeled his already apprehensive nerves and took the chance, quickly wishing he hadn’t.

“S-so, your shirt’s yellow,” he stated out loud like it was some sort of revelation. 

“Yes,” you drawled out, unsure as to where he was going with this. “That’s right, Spencer.”

He drummed his fingers on the table and continued on. “Did you know that airplanes tend to avoid the color yellow as it causes dizziness and nausea? A number of studies have shown those exact results and that’s why it’s almost never used in interiors of various forms of transportation and rarely use in advertising. It’s like how the red is the most common color used by restaurants as it psychologically makes the viewer hungry.”

You looked down on your top. Yellow was one of your favorites and you specifically chose this as Penelope said and you quote, it looks good on you, brings out your eyes. Boy genius would probably react to it too so naively you splurged on it. But this—this wasn’t the response you were hoping for. “Spence, are you saying my shirt is making you feel nauseous?”

He blushed and stammered out a strong refusal. “What, no! No! I—I meant to say—you, you look nice.”

You giggled under your breath, finding his long-winded route to giving you a compliment cute. “Nice nice or airsickness nice?” 

“Nice! Just nice!” He defended on, his voice cracking at the end. He caught Morgan’s wide eyed gaze then as if he couldn’t believe what train wreck he just witnessed. 

Cheeks heating up further, Spencer slouched in his seat and busied himself with the files wishing that he could build a memory eraser so he could wipe the events from his and the team’s minds or better yet, a time machine to redo the whole thing all over again.

The second move Spencer tried was advised by Elle Greenaway, the new recruit

“Do you think it’s weird that I knew that ballad?” He questioned during one of their cases in San Diego. It bothered him since the start of the case. How Morgan had teased him about his incapability of asking out the opposite sex. Never mind that you defended him right back, that’s a lie, it made him feel special that you did but the joke was still true. A cold stone truth. 

Elle laughed, flipping her phone repeatedly on the table while waiting for the unsub to take the bait. “I don’t know how you know half the stuff you know, but I’m glad you do.”

“Do you think that’s why I can’t get a date?” He asked as he fiddled with the unfinished Rubik’s cube in his hands.

“Have you ever asked her out?”

There was no need to ask who Elle was referring to, everyone knew of his innocent—well maybe not so innocent at times specifically during his state of dreaming—crush for the second youngest member of the team. He shifted his eyes to focus a few tables before his—at you, sitting beside JJ. “No."

“That’s why you can’t get a date.” 

One of the precincts phone then rang, it was the unsub, causing him to table that conversation in his vast memory. 

———

There’s an English saying that states ‘the second time is the charm’ and Spencer was hoping there were some truth to the idiom even with no scientific explanation to back it up. 

A few cases after San Diego, he got an opening that he was unexpectedly looking for. The team was on their way back from a case in Virginia. It was late and the profilers were all tucked in their little corners of the jet decompressing while you and Spencer were huddled on the sofa quietly discussing Doctor Who. 

“How could you say your favorite is the Ninth Doctor when you haven’t even seen the older episodes?” He rambled, clearly he would have to do something about your limited knowledge in the great universe of Doctor Who. He’d like to explain it all, 695 episodes of the classic era to you. He’d take any topic really just to have your interest.

You stared into his hazel speckled eyes and smiled, amused by his reaction. “It’s a bit hard to catch up on a show that’s been around since the 70s. Plus, it’s a challenge to look for copies.” 

“Actually, the show started in the 60s—1963, to be exact,” he clarified. “Garcia has copies we could borrow and watch together. If that’s—” he cleared his throat and clenched his fists closed, feeling his nails dig into his palms. “—that’s alright with you. If—if not, there’s a convention happening this weekend. I have an extra ticket, if you want to come with—only if you’re not busy, I mean.”

“And risk you spoiling every episode to me? I’d rather watch it alone, if you don’t mind.”

That dragged his optimism to a crash as if a twenty ton weight landed on his chest, rendering him immovable. Of course you were going to say no. There was no proof that you’d reciprocate his interests—he inwardly cursed himself for believing otherwise.

“But, I’d like to go with you to the convention,” you said and silently added as your date to yourself, shifting in your seat with a blush blooming on your cheeks at the thought. “Always wanted to go to one. If you’re fine with me not being in a costume. I think it’ll be too late to find one, don’t you think?”

Just like that, the weight on his chest lifted, making him feel weightless with glee. A wide smile grew on his face, threatening to burst his cheeks as he shook his head. “That’s alright! But you—you can always dress up as Rose!”

You titled your head to the side. “Rose?” 

“You know, the Ninth Doctor’s companion?”

“I know who she is, Spence. I just thought you didn’t watch the revived series?”

He softly scoffed. “I never said that! I watched it too, mainly to compare it to the classics but I’ve seen it.”

You leaned in, wanting to ask about his opinion on it. “Well, what do you think? I happen to be part of the minority who think the actor who reprised the role did alright.”

He liked seeing you like this. It made him feel like a puppy who had his owner’s undivided attention. All wide eyed and interested in his conjectures as to why the actor was alright himself but the problems were his short stint—making people vilify him over that decision—and the material some of the writers came up with. He appreciated you nodding along and supplying your own thoughts on the subject. It warmed his heart that here was a beautiful, smart, and cool person—way out of his league, he might add—giving her precious time away to discuss a nerdy sci-fi show that he could not rant and rave to about to anyone on the team, except for Penelope, and she’s rarely on the field with them. 

Your show of interest made him feel seen. Not as an agent with 3 PHDs, not as a genius with 187 IQ, but rather as a person with a right to express himself and occupy space. He wasn’t Agent Spencer Reid with you nor Dr. Spencer Reid, he was just Spencer who likes to watch Doctor Who and read literature in their original language. 

The third move Spencer did was proposed by Penelope Garcia, the spirited tech analyst 

“What do you mean you took her to a convention? For a date?” Penelope squeaked out, unable to comprehend the logic behind the genius’ actions.

“She said she always wanted to go,” Spencer stated as the elevator stopped on the fourth floor. He had fun over the weekend. Going around booths with you, listening to invited guest panels talk about the behind the scenes, explaining the reference every costume that you’ve pointed out, and just basking in your presence beyond cases. It was a memory he had replayed over and over after it had ended. It occupied his whole mind, and that’s saying a lot, causing him to do nothing and sit in his leather sofa and smile like a lunatic during the rest of the weekend.

“Well yeah, but that’s not date material! A date is supposed to be intimate—you and I go to conventions together, do you count that as a date?” 

“What? No! No, of course not!” 

“Exactly, boy wonder. Then what makes you think she’ll count that as a date?” She countered back as she entered her office with Spencer in tow. 

Silence. Oh.

Penelope sighed, having read the despair painting his face. “Did you at least dress up as the Ninth Doctor?”

“What? No. No, I went as the Fourth Doctor. I even hand-knitted the scarf myself.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before repeating what she just heard. “You didn’t dress up as her Doctor?”

“No,” he paused, unsure where she was going with this. “Should I had?”

“Yes! Yes, you should have!” Penelope slapped his arm out of frustration. “Why didn’t you call me once she said yes? We could have talked game plan or strategy or at least have gotten you a leather jacket to match her choice of companion.”

“Oh, I messed up then, didn’t I?” He slumped despondently on the office chair. “You—you don’t think she thought of it as a date at all?”

She played with her feathered pen, trying to find a way to salvage it for Spencer. “Did you take her out to dinner after?”

He shook his head, finally realizing his mistake.

“Oh Spencer,” she approached gently. “I can scoop for details with Y/N later on and report back to you?”

He shook his head. It didn’t feel right to have Penelope betray your trust and go behind your back over a mistake that he made. You were a honest person and you deserved to be treated with respect and reverence even though all he wanted now was peer into your viewpoint of the date—not date—and figure out once and for all if you saw him as anything beyond a co-worker and a friend. 

“Hm, I think I might just a solution,” Penelope blurted out of the blue. 

He looked up with a sliver of hope blooming in his chest. Maybe third time’s the charm. Besides, Penelope was the colleague you spent most of your time out with. You once mentioned that you considered her your best friend, besides from him of course. 

“You can bake her a batch of cookies! No one can say no to that,” she excitedly explained, believing it to be full proof—except for the fact that he doesn’t know how to bake. He wants to ask you out on a date but not to the expense of burning his whole apartment building down. 

“I can’t—I can’t bake, Garcia,” he squeaked out. “Did you know that 44% of all reported home fires are caused by cooking and baking. Those fires have resulted in an average of 470 civilian deaths and 4,150 civilian—”

She interrupted. “I’ll give you my recipe and detailed instructions to follow. That’ll make it easy peasy for you, boy genius.”

“C-can’t I just buy from her favorite bakery instead?”

“No can do, Doctor. Her favorite cookies just so happen to be my creation. She told me so herself.”

“Well, can’t I just ask you to make it for me? I’ll buy the ingredients!”

“Nope,” she dragged out her refusal. “Think of it as an act of service to her. Plus don’t you think it’s highly romantic when she finds out that you baked them yourself?” She swooned just thinking about it.

“Romantic? It won’t be romantic when I burn my apartment down, Garcia.”

She sighed. “Fine, I’ll supervise if you want. This weekend, granted if we’re free. But you—” she pointed her feathered pen at him. “—better be prepared and I’m just supervising, okay? I’m not baking it myself.”

He sighed. At least having Garcia around would make it easier.

———-

It did not in fact make it easier. Spencer burnt two batches before six pieces were considered edible. Garcia couldn’t understand, hell, he also couldn’t. Baking was precise and from his scientific viewpoint, it was a lot like chemistry. He loved science and anything academic, so how is it that he failed miserably, twice, when it came to baking? 

He shook his head as he entered the office. The first one—he stole a glance at Hotch’s office and saw movement—correction, the second one arriving early. Sometimes he wondered if the unit chief ever goes home, first in and last out.

He settled in his seat before promptly fidgeting from anticipation. Statistically speaking, you arrive earlier than Morgan or Elle which gave him enough time to gift the paper bag of cookies sitting hidden in his satchel without bringing attention to and embarrassing himself. He’d like to have little to no audience if he ever does mess it up for the third time. 

He brought out the cookies, afraid they’ll get crushed between his hardbound books, and placed them on your desk before standing to wash his clammy hands and make coffee. Counter intuitive of him to do as he was already a bundle of nerves and by drinking caffeine he was doubling that but maybe the smell would calm him before shooting up his energy by drinking.

As he exited the mens room, Penelope stepped out of the elevator and squealed. “Is she here? Is she? Did I miss it?”

He shook his head vigorously, trying to silence her excited glees. “No, she’s not here yet. She’ll—” he looked at his watch and ran the numbers. “—be here soon. I’m about to brew coffee. Do you want some?” He opened the door for both of them to enter the bullpen.

“Ick, no thanks,” Penelope said, scrunching her nose at the thought of drinking even a sip before scurrying away to her cave. “I’d rather not ruin my taste buds on bad coffee.”

He laughed and turned towards the kitchenette. With the coffee brewing, he drummed his fingers on the counter and mentally rehearsed what he would say to you. If he practiced, there’s less chance of messing it up like the first time, right? In his state of concentration, he missed you entering the office in all of your beautiful glory.

“Ooh cookies!” you exclaimed as you opened the unknown package on your table.

Spencer abruptly turned, hitting his side on the corners as he did. His eyes widened as he registered you holding the unsigned paper bag of treats on your desk. 

“They must be from Penny,” You continued on, oblivious to his presence and the devastation your remark caused him. Of course, he’d find another way to mess it up. You glanced around and your smile widened as you took in his handsome presence. “Oh hey Spence! Look, Penny made me cookies!” You tip-toed out of excitement. 

He smiled at your enthusiasm for something as simple as treats in the morning. The giggle you gave out as you entered the kitchenette was enough for him to slightly care less for the truth. He loved bringing out the happiness in you. It was like his own personal sunshine shining down on him, soaking him with vitamin D and boosting his overall sense of wellbeing. “Do you want coffee with that? It’s still hot,” he offered. 

You tapped the side of your hips with his as a sign of good will. “Thanks, Spence! This is turning out to be a great day, don’t you think?”

He watched as you busied yourself with putting cream and sugar in your of cup and sighed wistfully. “I think so too.”

And the last move Spencer did was recommended by no one but himself, the awkward 187 genius

With all three acts not delivering, he promised to try one last time without any outside interference besides from yours in his memory. You always did tell him to be himself in any situation, no matter how much he stumbled through any awkward situation—always there giving him a pat on the back for encouragement. 

Over the weekend, he spent his time reading two of your favorite books—which didn’t take much but he did read them again and again, regardless of his eidetic memory, trying to understand why these specific books were your comfort. Always pushed within the confines of your go bag, dog-eared and brown from age. He wanted to know how they’ve become an extension of you and how it had shaped you to the woman he has fallen in love with. 

He found himself hunched over his dining table, underlining sentences that made him think of you, scribbling away on the margins (and sometimes on post its too), and tabbing the written pages with a variety of colors that each represent an emotion. The act in it of itself made him feel closer to you than he thought possible. Lines in the books that made him think, ah so this was what formed your kind spirit. This is why your empathy knew no bounds. And this is why your beauty is inside and out.  

Spencer laid down to rest, anxious for the next day, Monday, to come. His heart threatening to beat out of his chest but his mind oddly calm as if it had a precognition that everything would turn out just right.

———

You arrived earlier than he did, throwing him off balance. 

“Hey Spence!” You greeted with a smile. “I got you a croissant and some coffee from that shop near my place.”

He blushed and stammered out a thank you. You were wearing a deep purple blouse that matched the scarf around his neck—the birthday gift you’ve given. He was no believer of the mystics but he took all of these as a sign from the stars. There was no way he would mess this up now.

“I—I got you something too,” he looked inside his satchel, hands shaking from it all. Gods, he wished this would go well or else, he might just die from embarrassment. “It’s nothing much but—I read your two favorite books and just—I wanted to discuss it with you,” he brought out the tabbed copies and presented them to you. “These are for you. I know you have copies of your own but I-I put my own notes on which lines reminded me of you.”

Your face turned red at the notion behind it all. Here was the BAU genius, the certified lover of the classics and the academia, the man who had your affections since day one, reading two contemporary literatures just for him to present you a gift like no other. You reached out and hugged the precious copies to your chest. 

“Thank you, no one’s ever done this for me before,” you breathed out, falling deeper into attraction with the perfection in front of you. “ Hey Spence, I may sound delusional asking this and you can say no if you want to but—” you visibly gulped, unaware of the audience nearby. “—would you like to have dinner with me? I make a mean lasagna.”

He turned red and vigorously nodded. “Y-Yes. Yes, I’d love to have dinner with you.”

You giggled, sounding like wind chimes to his ears. He did too, giggle I mean, from the triumph of finally knowing that his feelings were willingly reciprocated.

“Finally, you love birds!” Morgan shouted as he swung his arm around Spencer. “Didn’t know how much we could take from this pretty boy—” pointing at him “asking for advice and you—” pointing at you “—pretty girl is as dense as a rock. Tell me again how’d you end up as profiler with those observation skills.” 

A hand whacked him at the back. “Way to ruin the moment, Morgan.” Elle chided before turning to Spencer with a smile. “See told you, you could get a date.”

[cosmic-dust-poltergeist]

Pt3 of forever teen Danny adopting JJ Tim AND Red Hood Jason.

[Pt2: Here] [Pt 4: here]

Jason had absolutely no idea what he was looking at. Talia's information was apparently out of date when she sent him back here. There's a tiny vigilante version of Joker talking to the air on a rooftop in Crime Alley that wasn't in any of her reports. The whispers on the street call the kid Poltergeist, and he's apparently a chaotic good character and used to be Robin #3 before a run-in with the Joker turned him into the loony he sees before him. Jason is pissed Bruce let a second kid fall into that monster's hands.

And despite Jason searching, he hasn't found anything on the guy that supposedly saved the kid from Joker. Harley is still fucked up from seeing this Phantom guy kill her "Puddin'", but considering she helped fuck this kid up, Jason has no sympathy.

"Shit!" Jason ducks for cover when the kid suddenly snaps his head over to him. When Jason looks back, the kid isn't there anymore. "Double shit."

"Why have you been watching me?" Is asked from behind him. Jason will deny the yelp and jolt if anyone asks, but he totally did as he whips around, finding the kid perched on the building's roof access. There should be no way he got there that fast (is the kid a meta?). He has his head tilted like a curious puppy, the dark purple lipstick smeared over his lips and facial scars not hiding his little little frown. "Who are you, anyways, Mr. Tank?"

"I just wanted to check out the new player." Jason is glad his helmet disguises his voice, it masks some of his awkwardness.

The kid pouts, "I've been around 3 years if you count my year as Robin, that's not very new. If anything, you're the new player, Mr. Hood."

So the kid does know who he is? "Yeah, well, I've been outside of Gotham for those 3 years. You're new to me."

"Hmm, you couldn't have been Red Hood before you left." A second teenager's voice says from just to the left of Poltergeist, startling Jason. An unearthly looking 14(?) year old fades into view. The kid(?) is floating, answering the question of how Poltergeist got to where he is without Jason noticing. "Your ectoplasum is funky, my guy. How long have you been an Revenant?"

"A what?" The helmet can't mask how baffled he is.

"Yeah! Yeah! What's a Revenant, Dad!?" Poltergeist excitedly asks the other kid(?). The (not)kid's obviously not human, so Jason is obviously an idiot for assuming. Guy looks like a kid, but doesn't have the vibe of a kid. And he gets the vibe Poltergeist is call this guy "Dad" in a 100% "this is my father" way and not the weird "I call my sexual partner Daddy" thing that cropped up while Jason was without internet access.

"A Revenant is an undead that had a violent death and had a need to avenge themselves so desperate they rebound their soul to their body." The unknown explains, then seems to stare into Jason's soul. "Something is off about your ectoplasm, though. You should really get that looked at."

"Looked at by who?" Jason asks warily, "Who even are you?"

"Ah, I'm Phantom. Friendly neighborhood dead guy." Phantom fucking finger guns, what even is Jason's life? "And if you're asking that, I can only assume you've never been to the Infinite Realms."

"The where??"

"A dimension that runs parallel to this one. It's the dimension of the dead, undead, and neverbornes. It's very green." Phantom explains. "They'd have more knowledge on how to fix you the best, but I currently don't have easy access to it and don't know where you could. Good news! I'm pretty sure if I give you my own ectoplasm while slowly removing the fucked up bits of yours, it'd straight itself out. The unfortunately side effect is you'd be considered my kid in the eyes of the Realms and I'd want to know who the fuck you are before either of us commit to that."

"It'd fix the pit rage?" Jason asks in a daze. He's killed more people than he ever wanted because of the blackout rage he gets sent into.

""Pit rage"?" Phantom is staring into his soul again.

"I get so angry I blackout and can't truly tell you what I did during the, usually, hours I'm lost to it." Jason explains, "It's how I got on B's radar before I meant to."

Poltergeist is now creepily staring at him. Kid really is mimicking his dad.

"Yeah, no, that's not normal." Phantom scrunches his face in thought. "Rage is normal for a Revenant, it comes with the territory, but blackout rage isn't..."

Phantom looks over to Poltergeist, "How do you feel about a sibling?"

Poltergeist hasn't stopped his staring. It's freaking Jason out. Even more so when the kid starts cackling in delight. It sounds Joker-like. Which is fair given what Jason heard about how the kid became this way.

"I know who You Are Revenant ~!" Poltergeist sings. Making Jason freeze, because seriously??? The Bats haven't figured it out, but this kid in one meeting did???

"Oh?" Phantom asks fondly.

"He's the second Robin!" Poltergeist crows. "You definitely have my permission! How could I refuse the best Robin being my brother??"

"Wha-how-what the fuck, kid?" Jason sputters.

"You thought I wouldn't recognize you?" Poltergeist grins manically. "I stalked you and the B-man every chance I got before you died! I know you! Batsy was a fool to let you go!"

"You what now?" Jason doesn't know how many existential crisises he can handle in one conversation.

"I had a baby stalker phase!" Poltergeist admits happily before turning to Phantom, "Does being a vigilante mean I'm still a stalker?"

Phantom seems to genuinely think about it before answering, "I think you have to be to be a Gotham vigilante. Just try not to let it branch out to other areas in life. Normal people, and probably normal heroes and vigilantes, would probably get scared off."

"Jazz already told me." Poltergeist whines and flops over. Jason can now only see his feet. "Normal people are boring anyways."

Phantom just shakes his head fondly before looking back at Jason. "I'll let you think on it. We'll be around."

And with that, Phantom scoops up Poltergeist and turns them both invisible. Poltergeist's shriek of "Ta Ta!" and happy cackles echo in a way that means Phantom is flying them away.

Jason doesn't need to think on it, but he appreciates the thought.

He heads to his nearest safe house and starts researching up a storm on the supernatural to at least have a baseline on what he (and Phantom possibly) are. He takes a lot of the info with a grain of salt, though. He'll have lots to ask when he meets up with his potential new family. Who needs the Bats anyways? B told him he wasn't his father before he died, why should that change now that he died and came back? Nah, B will just be mad he's a crimelord. Phantom and Poltergeist don't seem to mind at all.

Yeah, he's joining their weirdass family. Maybe he should add a symbol or something green to his vigilante get up to declare it? He'll decide after he talks to them. Phantom might have a family crest or something.

[arciam]

Underrated JayVik moments/lines (7/∞)

[This criminally underappreciated Mel/Viktor parallel.]

It's one of those things that, once you see it, you can never unsee it.

This is like two seconds before desaster strikes Mel kisses Jayce, and I mean, Viktor was looking thirsty enough as it is in his shot, but the implicationsss..!

Both for what may have been on Viktor's mind, but also for what is my personal JayVik pet theory, namely: if at any point during their partnership Viktor had made a move first, I do believe Jayce would have put up the equal amount of resistance he did with Mel, so... zero.

(Honestly, I could probably make a whole separate post about how Jayce strikes me as one of those guys who are perpetually just going "oh, I guess we're doing this now" when it comes to romance...)

Either way, after screaming, crying, throwing up once I'd noticed this, I knew I had to use it in my first JayVik-AMV, which is also where I nabbed this gif from, so: Gif made by me.

Part 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/7½/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20

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[shoophise]

Hi, I just wanted to share this fic I wrote based on your HyperDark AU. I hope I got the characters right. And sorry I’m on anon, I’m not very confident about it, but your AU lives in my head rent free and I really had to write about it. I hope that's okay.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64979197?view_adult=true

THIS WAS THE BEST THING TO WAKE UP TO. OH MY GOD ANOTHER FIC i srsly dont deserve all this talent bc this is unreal. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT.

Please everyone go read it YOU WILL LOVE IT AS MUCH AS I DO ITS SO GOOD, PLEASE

spoilers for the fanfic bellow tho

where can I even start, Sonic thought's are so good? the fact that he's ashamed of who he is now, and runs away from everything that used to make him happy, man y'all really like seeing my boy suffer as much as I do LOL

I like how you make him a bit more aggresive in this, how rude he is to Shadow's nonsense, it really adds to him being in a bad mood most of the time. When he brought up Maria's death I gasped honestly IN A GOOD WAY, how he pities Shadow for being like this but also hates him for being the reason they are like that in the first place.

And of course how he depends of him now.

When Sonic acknowledges he is now the serious grumpy one and Shadow is happy ughhh the parallels I wanted everyone to notice its working, im so happy man

I SCREAMED WITH THE KISS, I NEVER IMAGINED THEM KISSING BEFORE BUT NOW IM CONSIDERING? like Hyper Shadow being happy with the kisses, holding Sonic close and brushing his quills happily, i absolutely loved that part, i think im gonna add it to my art ideas bc i cant stop thinking about it now >:0

The fact you made a reference to the birdies piece made me so happy, I was like, oh, I UNDERSTAND THE REFERENCE. You are so talented <3

YOU DONT NEED TO BE ASHAMED BC I LOVED IT SO MUCH UGH ITS SO GOOD I'D LOVE TO SEE MORE OF UR WORK. You got it right and its perfect I love it !! THANK YOU SO MUCH :( IM REALLY HAPPY

[fanfictiongirlie]

Twilight: The Human and the Wolf Chapter Six

Click here for masterlist

Parings: Paul Lahote x OC (First person, no use of Y/N)

Description: Bella Swan's twin moved to Forks with her sister. Whilst Bella falls for a vampire, her twin falls for a wolf. The story runs parallel to Bella's story in Twilight. But following her twin and her life with the wolves.

Rating: Eventually explicit.

Warnings: Nothing in this chapter.

Chapter Six - I'm Starting To Like You, Ya Know?

I checked over my dress again, it was beautiful, I had picked out a sage green dress that flowed beautifully down my body, hugging every curve and contour of my body. 

I stepped out of my room, seeing Bella in her blue dress, she looked uncomfortable, even with the cast on her leg. Bella walked down the stairs first, as Edward was already downstairs, they both left leaving me to make my grand entrance down the stairs, just as I reach the bottom of the stairs, a knock sounds at the door, signaling Paul's arrival. 

Grinning widely I open the door allowing Paul to step in, he wore a suit with a tie that matched the colour of my dress. Which made me smile even more, since I hadn't even told him the colour I'd be wearing. Paul's usually longish hair was tied into a small ponytail behind his head. 

"Dad, this is Paul" I say, my eyes never leaving his. He looked amazing, breathtaking. 

"Hello sir" Paul greets my dad, holding a hand out to hand out to shake my dads. "I promise to take good care of your daughter tonight"

I grin taking Paul's hand and head out to my car. Once we arrive at the venue, the music is playing loudly, and the atmosphere is filled with excitement. I notice a few of my friends, waving to them happily as I hang onto Paul's arm. 

"Care to dance?" I ask, feeling my cheeks redden. 

Paul grins, clearly pleased by my suggestion. He nods and leads me onto the dance floor, finding a spot among the other couples already dancing. Wrapping one arm around my waist, he takes my hand with his other hand and begins swaying with me. 

"Charmer" I smirk, as I hold his hand with one hand and wrap my other hand around his shoulder, holding onto him. 

"Well, I do try. And can you blame me? Dancing with the most beautiful girl here"

I giggle softly and step closer to him. I looked past him seeing Bella and Edward walk outside together, I shake the thought of unease and tried to enjoy myself with Paul. 

"Everything alright?" He asks, he must of noticed the brief moment of distraction over my face. 

"No, I'm fine...I'm here with you" I say moving slightly, so my eyes met his. He smiles and looks down at me. 

"You're right. It's just you and me right now. No distractions. Just enjoying the dancing and each other's company" He says as he pulls me closer, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist, as he continues dancing with me to the rhythm of the music. 

"You're right" I smile softly, stepping closer so our bodies pressed together as we danced. 

"Do you have a prom at your school?" I asked as I rested my head on his chest. 

"Yeah, we do have a prom, it's not a big fancy event like this one, but we make the best of it. It's more of a low-key vibe, you know?" He explains. 

"Sounds really nice" I answer, moving to smile up to him. Paul returns my smile, his gaze unwavering as he looks down at me. 

"It's pretty cool. And you know what makes it better?" He asks, a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"What?" I ask quietly. 

Paul leans in a little closer, his voice dropping to a soft whisper in my ear, his breath tickling my skin. 

"Dancing with the prettiest girl there, makes the night ten times better"

"Oh..and who's this pretty girl you're taking?" I tease. 

Paul laughs softly, clearly amused by my playfulness. He pretends to ponder for a moment before replying, his eyes sparkling with mischief and affection. 

"Hmmm, let's see...she's got beautiful hair, kind of sassy, absolutely stunning eyes and the sexiest smirk I've ever seen..Any ideas who I could possibly be referring to?"

"Well you never asked me to go to your prom with you, how was I to know?" I asked, giggling. 

"Ah, how forgetful of me..Well then, allow me to rectify that oversight" He grins "Will you do me the great honor of being my date to my prom?" 

"You're a dork, but yeah I will" 

"It'll be a night to remember, fancy dancing, spending the night with me, you'll love it" He explains. "And you don't have to wear a fancy dress, if you don't want too"

"Aw, but I love my fancy dresses" I pout playfully "What will I wear?"

Paul laughs, enjoying our little banter. He pretends to think for a moment, his expression exaggeratedly serious. 

"An excellent question. You could wear jeans and a t-shirt, or a nice dress...or..." He pauses for dramatic effect, his eyes glimmering with a hint of mischief. 

"Or...?" I asked smirking. 

Paul grins even wider, his voice low and suggestive. 

"Or, and I'm throwing out ideas here, you could wear nothing at all" He winks playfully. 

"And have all your friends see me naked? Certainly not!" I scoff playfully. Paul laughs heartily at my mock outrage. He nods, feigning a serious expression. 

"You're right, I can't have all my friends seeing you naked. That's a sight reserved for me and me only" He grins, pulling me closer and nuzzling my hair with his nose affectionately. 

"Oh...you think so? That's very forward of you to say on the first date"

Paul chuckles, unrepentant. His hand slowly tracing light circles on the small of my back as he continues to hold me close. 

"What can I say? I'm a confidant guy, and I know what I like. And I like you, a lot" He leans in, his voice dropping to as low, huskier tone. "Besides, you can't blame a guy for having a good imagination, right? Especially when the subject matter is so...captivating"

"And what if I was more of an old fashioned gal?"

"Then I'd have to be the picture-perfect gentleman. Open doors for you, pull out your chair, the whole nine yards. And even though it'd be torture to keep my hands off you, I'd respect your boundaries and take things slow" He pauses, his eyes sparkling down at me. "For as long as I could, at least"

"Well...I wouldn't make you wait for long...but maybe we should take it slow for now"

Paul nods, appreciating my honest answer. He grins, his gaze roaming over my face with affectionate admiration. 

"Fair enough, slow and steady it is" He leans in, his voice dropping to a gentle murmur. "But just so you know, patience has never really been my strong suit. So don't be surprised if I occasionally have a hard time keeping my hands to myself"

 "Oh, I never said I didn't want your hands on me" I say, leaning up to whisper into his ears, the music was still blaring and the prom still going on around us. Paul's arms tighten around me, pulling me so close that our bodies were flush.

"Oh, you little temptress...You're gonna be the death of me, I swear"

"Let's go get a drink?" I ask, giggling softly. Paul nods, a little reluctantly loosening his hold on me. He threads his fingers through mine.  

"Sure, let's grab a drink and find somewhere quieter. I want to enjoy more alone time with you"

I take his hand and pull him to the drinks table,once we both had a drink in hand, I pulled him along towards the outside area where a gazebo stood with hundreds of fairy lights, I had forgotten this was where I saw Bella and Edward sneak off to, so we walked out to see Edward kissing Bella's neck. It was strange to see my twin in such a intimate position. I stopped walking, causing Paul to bump into me. 

I giggled softly, not wanting to capture Bella and Edward's attention, I pulled him in a different direction, moving closer to the forest that stood right by the school. I lent against a tree, sipping at my drink. He followed suit, leaning next to me, as we both enjoyed the quiet surroundings. 

"This nice and peaceful...And private. Just what we needed" He said, glancing at me, a warm smile on his lips, causing me to feel a little giddy inside, I was enjoying his company far more than I thought I would. He reaches out and traces his fingers lightly down my arm. 

"Yeah it was getting a little overwhelming in there, it's nice to be alone" 

Paul nods, his touch on my arm gentle, he takes another sip of his drink, his gaze roamed over my face. 

 "I know what you mean, sometimes all that noise can be too much. But out here, just the two of us, it's perfect" He says as he scoots a little closer to me, his shoulder brushed up against mine. 

"Can I ask you something?" I ask, smirking a little, a playful glint in my eyes. Paul's eyebrows quirk up, curiosity piqued by the mischievous gleam in my eyes. He grins in anticipation. 

"Sure, ask away"

"Do you kiss on the first date?" I ask, feeling myself blush. He chuckles softly, his eyes sparkling as he looks down at me. I feel my body go hot as he steps closer to me. 

"That depends, are you asking for a kiss?" He asks in a playful tone, his eyes flickering down to your lips. 

"Maybe" I say quietly, feeling my blush worsen. 

"Just maybe?" He asks as he reaches out to gently brush a strand of hair away from my face, his touch tender and affectionate. He leans in a little closer, his eyes locked with mine, filled with desire. 

"Definitely, I want you to kiss me...I want to kiss you" I whispered, licking my lips slightly in anticipation. He lowered his head, his lips were just a breath away from mine. He pauses for a moment, his eyes searching mine. 

Smiling softly, I close my eyes, lifting my face a little closer to his. Our lips finally touched, the touch was soft and tentative at first, like a whisper. When neither of us moved away, he pressed further, claiming my lips with a growing hunger, kissing me more passionately. 

I kissed him gently, letting my lips move against his. I gripped his shoulders, sighing slightly into the kiss, his tongue darted out to lick my lips, I opened my mouth allowing him access. A low moan left his mouth, his body was pressed against me, our bodies molding perfectly together. He tangled one hand through my hair, tilting my head so he could kiss me more, as his tongue explored my mouth hungrily. 

I pulled back slightly, brushing my lips against his, breathing a little heavier than before. Paul's breathing was just as labored as mine. His eyes were dark with desire, he lifted a hand up to cup my cheek, his thumb traced the curse of my cheek gently. 

"You're making it so damn hard to take things slow..." He whispered. 

"I know...god I want more...But I really want to take this slow Paul" 

"I understand, we'll take it slow, as slow as you want. I don't want to rush anything or make you feel uncomfortable" He said, he then pressed a soft, lingering kiss against my forehead. 

"I'm starting to really like you, ya know" I giggle softly. 

"Starting to? Just starting to like me, huh?" He asks, pretending to pout. 

"Well, this is only our first date"

Paul smirks, his faux pout dissolving into a wolfish grin.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to step my game up a bit. Can't have you just starting to like me. Gotta make sure you're head-over-heels in love with me before the night is over"

"Goodball" I giggled "Come on, let's go back"

We headed back into the loud school, the music blared and everyone was jolly. 

"How about another dance?" I ask him. A smile tugged on his lips, he pulled me close to him, Paul then spun me around before bringing me close to him again. We laughed happily. 

"You're a good dancer, you know that?"

"Really? I love dancing" I giggle. 

"Really, honestly. I could happily watch you dance all day. But getting to dance with you, that's even better" He smirks, he eyes roamed over my face as he pulls me close again. 

"I'm glad Jacob was wrong...he said you weren't the nicest, but you're really sweet"

"I guess I can be a little rough around the edges, but I can be sweet when I want to be. And I especially want to be sweet with you"

We danced for a little longer, until it was time to leave the prom, I said to Paul I'd drive him home. We walked to my car and climbed in, once the doors were shut I looked over to him and smirked. 

"We could always find somewhere private to park up and make out?" I suggested feeling a little silly. Paul barks out a surprised laugh, his eyes widening momentarily.

"Oh naughty...I like how you think" He grins. 

I started driving towards La Push. 

"Know of anywhere?" I ask. 

"Oh yeah, I know a few spots"

"Okay, gimme the directions handsome" I grin. I listened to his directions driving carefully through the dark night. Once I finally found the secluded place, it looked like a car park to some nature walk, it was empty thankfully. 

"Come here" I whispered, taking his collar into my hand, pulling him close to me, pressing my lips to his. Paul wrapped his arms around my waist, best he could due to car bits getting in the way. 

We kissed for a little while, not caring for time, only caring for the feel of one another's lips. I found kissing him was additive. I wanted more and more, I think I'd do anything for his taste. 

Until my phone started to ring, I groaned and pulled away, my breath heavy. 

"Shit, it's Bella...one second" I say to him and answer my phone. I spoke to Bella for a few moments. She told me how our dad wasn't happy at me for being out so late. I put the phone down and looked to Paul with a frown. 

"Sorry..."

"Don't be, I understand why you're dad wants you home"

"Yeah, let's get you home first" I smile, starting the car back up. 

"Alright, back to reality then" 

I drove Paul home first, stopping outside his house, he leans over to kiss me again, less needy this time. 

"Goodnight Paul, I had a really good night" I say, blushing. 

"I had a great night, truly. The best I've had in a long time" He pauses for a moment, his gaze lingering on my face, as if he was trying to memorise every one of my features. 

"I don't want the night to end..."

"Maybe, we could do something tomorrow? It is Sunday after all?" I suggest, feeling hopeful. 

"That's a fantastic idea! What did you have in mind?" He asks. 

"I have no idea...there's a coffee shop in Forks that's cute, we could go there for date two?" 

"Sounds perfect"

"I'll see you tomorrow" I say, giving him one last kiss. He cups my cheek for a moment, his touch lingering gently before he pulls away. 

"Until tomorrow"

And then he leaves my car. I drive home, the memories of the night replaying in my mind as I drive, a warm feeling of happiness settling in my chest. 

When I get home, my dad's a little mad, but I explained that I was only giving Paul a ride home. I then rushed upstairs to Bella's room, knocking on the door. 

"Come in!"

I opened the door and flowed in, still in my dress. 

"Someone had a good time tonight, I'm guessing?" She asks, I flop down on her bed next to her. 

"So good! Paul kissed me! How was your time with Edward?" I asked. 

"My date with Edward was...well, perfect" 

"Oh good, I'm seeing Paul again tomorrow!" I say excitedly "I'll let you sleep"

I grinned happily, leaving her room. Once in my room, I took my dress off and showered quickly, before climbing into my bed. Falling asleep with a smile on my lips. 

Taglist:

@jaybbygrl

[blueorchid1707]

Ok so someone asked to see my very long list of httyd stuff that I noticed so here you go:

1 . Hiccups autistic traits (pretty sure one of the writers mentioned this too)

2 . Soick, Valka and Hiccup (the bridge between vikings and dragons)

3 . Drago and the bewilderbeast both losing a 'limb' (similar to hiccup and toothless)

4 . Eret in Drago's camp (trying to tell Astrid to stop talking)

5 . Valka's story/flashback and 'toothless comes back' - same musical themes

6 . Different types of fire from different dragon species

7 . Hiccup's dragon blade (trying to seem more 'dragon like')

8 . Stoick and Hiccup relationship development from movie 1 to movie 2

9 . Terrible terrors and book toothless being very similar

10 . Dragons can be controlled through sound (the red death, valka's staff, Drago's bewilderbeast, Drago's staff + shouting)

11 . Hiccup and Viggo competing in a sort of 'battle of intelligence'

12 . Toothless' shot limit in his 'alpha mode' increasing

13 . 'where no one goes' - Toothless flying through smoke made by plasma blasts (invisibility in Httyd 3- natural instincts maybe?)

14 . Hiccup gaining confidence as a leader and friend

15 . Hiccups first and last words to his father being the same

16 . Valka talking about Hiccup's birth at Stocks funeral (motherly instincts probably?)

17 . Toothless watching the birds (forbidden friendship) reference to the deleted scene in thw

18 . "this is berk" shows all music themes (all except toothless' - adds to the mystery of his species)

19 . Hiccup theming inventions after Toothless

20 . Valka subduing Toothless effortlessly

21 . Parallels (Toothless catching Hiccup (httyd 1) Hiccup catching toothless (httyd 2), both falling separately (httyd 3)

22 . Valkas reflection in the the axe after meeting Cloudjumper ("his soul reflected my own")

23 . Valka being unused to human touch after so long

24 . Hiccup is an artist (I LOVE HIM 😭❤️)

25 . Toothless protecting Hiccup from Valka

26 . Valka's dragon like movements

27 . Stoick mentioning Valka after Hiccup meets her in a completely different setting

28 . The dragons look like their riders (sort of)

29 . Hiccup mimicking Toothless

30 . Toothless and Hiccup in sync a lot

31 . Hiccup could be favoured by the Gods?? ( way too many close calls with death) (Slightly far fetched ik)

32 . Hiccup never necessarily 'hated' dragons?

33 . Hiccup and Toothless never being apart (rtte, never really mentioned separately)

34 . "Dragon racing" and "see you tomorrow" (same themes referencing adjusting to dragons)

35 . Valka's bewilderbeast and Drago's bewilderbeast (Valka's has a more natural tusk shape, Drago's are more controlled and almost man made looking)

36 . Valka uses a staff rather than a sharp weapon (trying not to seem as a threat)

37 . Hiccup loses his left leg, Toothless loses his left tailfin (helping each other to adapt)

38 . Hiccup has a comfort item? (The dragon plush Valka made him)

39 . Valka's physical affection towards Hiccup (deprived of human touch)

40 . Valka and Stoick talking about their shared interests with Hiccup (well, at least trying to)

41 . Astrid's protective nature towards Hiccup (I love this)

42 . Foreshadowing Stocks death ("I thought I'd have to die before I could do that dance again")

43 . Astrid mentions that Stoick is alive - Drago doesn't notice (or he appears not to)

44 . Stoick and Gobber are almost always seen together

45 . Valka stands separate from Hiccup, Stoick and Gobber when they find her (Valka leaving the vikings, the others staying)

46 . Astrid - the perfect balance of ferocity and femininity (hell yeah)

47 . Hiccup feels that he has to lead like his father (this is kinda explicitly stated tho)

48 . Hiccup is the perfect balance of his mother and father

49 . Astrid chooses to ride with fishlegs rather than snotlout or the twins (The battle with Drago) (I don't blame her tbh)

50 . Valka's detestation about losing her husband and almost losing her son in one day

51 . Hiccup is incredibly intelligent and open minded

52 . Drago doesn't necessarily seek out physical battles (rtte - krogan and Johann doing it for him)

53 . The wild dragons are more easily influenced and controlled by dragos bewilderbeast

54 . Stoick and Valka's love ballad appears in multiple pieces where they're together (and stoicks funeral)

55 . Hiccup overestimates himself (I can't remember what this means now that I'm going back through this but I'm just gonna trust that my past self knew what she was talking about)

56 . Hiccup and Viggo are basically mirrors of eachother (games of intelligence and strategy, polar opposites of each other)

57 . Toothless spreads his wings to appear more intimidating to enemies (similar to real animals instincts)

58 . Toothless was probably pushed to his limit by Drago without his tail being properly controlled

59 . Hiccup is only ever seen with flammable weapons in httyd 2? (the dragon blade, the arrow for his father boat)

60 . Stoick just doesn't understand Hiccup, but he still would protect him with his life (httyd 1) (kinda the whole point of their relationship in movie 1, idk why I wrote this down)

61 . Circular narrative - httyd 2 (starting and ending with dragon racing)

62 . Hiccup has one of his dragon fins when he is crowned as chief symbolising his dragon soul? (The fin on the back of the flight suit)

63 . Hiccup looks very anxious when he's crowned as cheif

64 . Stoick and Valka share different stories from different point of view about dragons

65 . Hiccup yells when he's angry (showed multiple times) (love this 😭❤️)

66 . Foreshadowing "don't worry bud, I won't let anything happen to you" (spoiler alert: he let something happen literally like 2 minutes later)

Anyway yeah this mostly just word vomit so it doesn't make that much sense. I could also probably add more bc this is mostly just httyd 2 stuff

[fairuzfan]

I’m a genocide historian and I do think comparisons between the Holocaust and the genocide in Palestine are unproductive because A) the Holocaust is pretty distinct from Palestinian genocide not in its exceptionalism but in its method - the “shipping” of victims from 20+ countries by international rail to a handful of centralized killing sites; 15000 people being gassed in Auschwitz daily (a single gas chamber had standing capacity for 2,000 people) and their stolen hair sold in bales for use as maritime rope and cushion stuffing - and forcing Holocaust parallels obfuscates the terrible and very unique methods of genocide being used by Israel against Palestinians. B) People often invoke the Holocaust as an emotional appeal regarding the moral culpability of all Jews (“how could you do what was done to your ancestors!”) when the same responsibility to end the genocide in Palestine exists regardless of one’s background or religion.

What Israel is doing in Palestine is 100% a genocide. Whether or not it is similar to the Holocaust (or any previous atrocity) does not make this any more or less true.

The thing that doesn't make sense to me with this point is that no one is saying that the Holocaust and Palestinian genocide are a 1:1 comparison. Like most people acknowledge the terrible genocide that occurred in the Holocaust against all its victims. But when they're talking about comparing genocides, there are tell tale signs that repeat throughout history that are precursers to larger events. Like when people compare the Warsaw ghetto to Gaza. I'd say those are quite similar in practice and intention. When we "compare" genocides (not a 1:1 but more of a drawing parellels by disecting the inteion and reasoning behind certain events that werent necessarily actively violent but passively violent) its to show "hey this is going to get really bad really soon because something like this happened before." Masha Gessen has an article about this that I reblogged.

People should care about fighting injustice everywhere I agree. But that doesn't change the fact that parallel drawing is an act separate from emotional invocation. When genocide scholars and survivors talk about "Hey this was like xyz that happened to me/in history" it's to show that there is precedent for this thinking and a terrible methodology happening when genocides occur. They dont just get really bad out of nowhere, you need to examine the precursors to prevent the large event from happening. How that large event happens differs from place to place, I agree. But to say that because things happen differently against different people means you can't examine the underlying reasons behind those actions is kind of reductive. By this definition you can never compare any genocide ever and all the terrible things that happen just happen naturally without any political or social influence.

Arnesa talks about how the Bosnian genocide precursors mirror the Palestinian genocide. She also talks about how Lula specifically should have mentioned other genocides (like Rwanda, Bosnia, etc) in his statement because there are parallels there too. I'd argue that's the real intention behind genocide studies, in that you notice trends and patterns to analyze how certain events might turn out.

I do want to mention because this is where im coming from a little bit, it is a pretty big zionist talking point (by especially American dems) saying you can't compare the holocaust to what's happening to Palestinians because it's antisemitic, which is not a real talking point and actually kind of rude in that it assumes that Palestinians can't call out parallels between their treatment and the treatment of those in the Holocaust because they're fundamentally doing it from a point of antisemitism and not a plea for recognition that the events are mirroring each other.

[oshinohoshi]

Oshi no Ko chapter 166 thoughts - the end of all things

So uh... the only positive thing I can say here besides the beautiful Ai art is that I felt sad reading the page where Miyako was hugging Ruby. Everything else left me completely empty

This chapter is either:

A) A self-aware ending meant to show that life is suffering and the idol industry will suck out your soul if you let it

B) Outsourced to someone who skimmed OnK for 30 seconds on Wikipedia before putting pen to paper

It has to be A, right? You can't tell me that the same author wrote both of these pages without the right being ironic

But I don't think so because big brained Akane is the one clumsily narrating this crappy montage masquerading as a real ending

Aqua died for nothing. His sister is now a soulless cog in the idol machine

Ruby is mimicking Ai's speech - "Lies are an outstanding kind of love... We pile on the lies and no matter how hard things get, we sing and act happy onstage. It's a fun job!" But she forgot the rest of it: "Only, I'd like the 'being happy' part to be real. Nobody notices, but we have hearts and lives of our own. Happiness as a mother. Happiness as an idol. Normally you'd have to pick one, but I want both. Ai Hoshino is a greedy girl"

Ai wasn't only a misunderstood girl who worked hard to please her fans. That was a big part of her story but she also broke the rules to create her own family, her own happiness

Ruby, on the other hand, seems to have no real desires anymore, she's just following a path she believes her mother and Aqua paved for her. Never mind that Aqua only wanted it in the end because she wanted it and Ai just wanted her kids to be happy

You can tell that Akasaka is patting himself on the back for making a cyclical narrative where Ruby becomes Ai 2.0 by being commodified, scrutinized, and idolized like Ai was

But it's such a flimsy parallel when it comes to the theme of lies because lying to hide your grief =/= "lies are love" which was the only way Ai knew how to frame her genuine desire to love

And Ai's "I love you" to her kids was true whereas Ruby has swallowed her own lie that being an idol is fun even when you're just doing it to outrun your pain

What this chapter showed us is that the meaning of Ruby's life is to be Ruby of B Komachi and she was put on Earth to sing pop songs. Because that's what Ai did, right? If I remember correctly, her final words were "I'm so glad I got to be an idol #blessed"

My God was the Dome concert soulless. Miyako and Ichigo crying happy tears is a punch to the gut. Doesn't Miyako know her daughter is still hurting?

The last scene is so fucking depressing

Ruby, are you okay? Blink twice if you still remember your life outside the idol industry!

The last two pages work really well as horror. She has a brilliant smile but you can tell that she's dead inside. She's got more merch on her table than photos. Why doesn't she have a corkboard of family photos? Although I more or less have this Ai plushie and it's pretty cute so I'll give this a pass because it's hilarious

I guess the takeaway here is to live for others and life is painful so just grin and bear it. Oh yeah, and inspire other young women to join an industry where they get to act happy and lose their humanity. Cool

I mean I get that it's supposed to be about moving on with your life even while grieving and that's a good message, sure, but Aka's insistence on using the word "lies" multiple times as if saying it makes it make sense ruins the whole thing

The most insane part is that this chapter is a wholehearted endorsement of the lies sold by the entertainment/idol industry

I haven't even said anything about anyone besides Ruby because what's the point? Aka didn't have time to do justice to any of the characters I grew to love

It's clear something went wrong with the timeline of wrapping up OnK. No artist wants to execute a final chapter like this. I'm convinced the film reel edges are Aka and Mengo's way of telling the reader, "we know this is a shitty clips show so don't @ us on Twitter about it"

But it's so much worse than that. Aka really decided to tear to shreds everything he worked so hard on for 4 years. Damn

This is my favorite manga and I'll always love that it gave me Ai, my most beloved character of all time, but this leaves an extremely bitter aftertaste. It's really hard to believe that the same person who wrote vol 1 wrote this.

OnK has been pretty important to me. Reading weekly, chatting with fans, and reaching dangerous levels of Ai brain rot has actually been a helpful distraction. TBH I've been a little too invested in it but sometimes you need escapism. So it's crazy that I'm kind of glad it's over.

But this is why fanfic, fanart, and your own headcanons exist. In another universe, this manga wrapped up beautifully and I was depressed for weeks because I couldn't look forward to it anymore. In this universe, at least we're all suffering together here at the end of all things.

And at least the little Hoshino family is still adorable. Too bad Ai is dead, Aqua is dead, and Ruby desperately needs grief counseling. But NEVER MIND. Look at Ai's smile and the twins' faces. This was the Oshi no Ko I really loved.

[fivelila]

The other side of everything

I think all of you have read the repeated sentences about what's wrong with Fivelila. So I thought I'd write my thoughts on it and maybe some of my headcanon.

1) Age gap

Problem: Ritu is 15 years older than Aidan. Five and Lila have an age difference in both directions, mentally he is much older and physically she is older.

My take: About the age of the actors, I'll say this much - the opposite is so common and many people don't find it strange. For example, did you know that Julia Roberts was 23 when her film Pretty Woman came out and that Richard Gere is 19 years older than her? And I haven't noticed anyone being disgusted by how that's possible. I could find some more extreme differences, but I don't think I want to.

Aidan is 21 and yes, he did TUA when he was younger, but a lot of people still think he's a kid. But no, he's not. Deal with it.

My headcanon: Lila is older than she looks. And that's thanks to the Handler and the work she does for the Commissions. Does any of us know how long has she lived somewhere outside of time? Sounds like another possible parallel to me.

2) Lila was cheating on Diego

Problem: Lila was unfaithful to her husband.

My take: Lila made it clear that she wanted a break with Diego and wanted to reconsider their marriage. Yes, the circumstances ended up being pretty wild, but it was more than obvious that she wasn't happy in the marriage. Among other things, it was over six and a half years for her before anything happened with Five. There are countries where such a long separation between spouses could also help to bring about an immediate divorce if necessary.

I also think that the only thing that connected them the most was their children and not that they were compatible as partners. A completely natural thing that happens really often in real life when someone builds a relationship on desire, which they mistake with love.

3) Five is homewrecker

Problem: Five is the reasons why his brother's family fell apart.

My take: It's not true. Five was not the reason that Lila and Diego had problems in their marriage. Yes, she was still his brother's wife and that's a bit morally grey, but their situation was complicated enough (as I wrote in the previous point) and it's completely understandable. By the way, don't people like this family precisely because their morals are often a bit grey? I guess that's probably only true sometimes, huh?

4) Five cheated on Dolores

Problem: Five was unfaithful to Dolores

My take: Sorry, but this is the biggest piece of shit ever. If someone prefers a relationship that Five made up in his mind just to keep himself from going crazy and heal his trauma, then our fandom isn't the one that's wrong. By the way, if Dolores was real and played by Rachel Delduca, she's definitely older too! I couldn't find the exact age, but it's pretty obvious that she's older than Aidan.

5) Five killed Lila's parents

Problem: Five was the killer of Lila's family and Handler could have kidnapped her. Her family may be alive, but it won't change the past.

My take: Yes, this is about the only thing that could never work in another story. Lila gets her family back, but it doesn't change what happened to her. Still, I think even she knows very well what it's like to work for the Commission and what it was like when an order came down. Handler bears most of the blame, even though she wasn't the one who killed them.

My headcanon: I don't think Lila had clean hands either, though we never really saw that much in the story. Still, even she could have been the murderer of some random parents of some random kids because that was her job. For example, she killed several people on the Commission to get access to past records in the barn, so it would be a bit hypocritical for her to blame others for actions that she herself had done before.

If you have any other thing I should discuss, please post it in the comments, I'll do another post about it.

[why-am-i-a-moth]

I'm on an autism quest, which requires me to consume every bit of doctor who media I can get my grubby little moth hands on, and while watching through classic who and actively paying attention, I noticed a thing- after 1 regenerates into 2, he's going about things in the TARDIS and the ring he always wore as 1 falls off his finger... hmmmm I wonder where I've seen that before

I have watched Twice Upon A Time a million times and saw loads of parallels between 1 and 12, but bc I'd never paid attention to classic who all that much (or watch the animated stories) I'd never picked up that the ring falling off 13's hand was also a callback, and let me tell you, I have NOT been normal since

[demaparbat-hp]

⭐

For better or worse, I'm rather obsessive over wording. I love to include little details and clues that tend to go over everyone's heads. Most of them are only there for my own devilish enjoyment!

Now, I'd like to talk about three specific moments from my Zuko-centric fic For the Spirits (read here!). Two of them are from chapter V, while the last one is a bit more recent, from chapter VIII.

Both lines include ridiculously subtle and obscure subtext that I'm not sure I'll get the chance to explore fully in the fic. So I'm using this excuse to talk about them!

Spoilers ahead!

Chapter V: There Was Sun

Read here.

He was left in silence, the thousands of eyes that lived in his bedroom standing watch over him. He laid down right there, ear pressed to the floor, his back to the door, and clutched his mother's anklet to his chest until the morning came.

Zuko was awoken by the ghost of a caress on his left cheek and the echo of a voice that told stories of dragons and spirits and love.

No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are.

Ursa dies and becomes a ghost in this scene—it's not really ambiguous, is it? I always knew Ursa was going to die to protect Zuko in this AU. That scene of Zuko staying behind to spy on Azulon’s edict—instead of running away as he did in canon—was actually what got this whole AU started!

It's a matter of seemingly insignificant divergences that just pile up until the consequences are so massive they impact the rest of the story.

In For the Spirits, Zuko directly hears Azulon’s order to kill him, so he stays awake all night in fear. When Ursa comes to say goodbye, she's confronted with a fully awake child she tries to calm down. It slows her down. It gets her caught. It gets her killed. And Zuko listens as it happens.

The scene I quoted is Ursa's final goodbye, after her death... But there's something else. One tiny, absolutely inconsequential detail that doesn't impact the story itself but I can't help but obsess over anyway.

Did you notice?

Zuko was awoken by the ghost of a caress on his left cheek...

(Some spirits don't know.)

(Others know too much.)

.

Agni was a beautiful being forever in repentance of some forgotten sin. Forever submitted to the Fire.

Zuko insisted on being alone the first time his bandages were removed.

The mirror was old and cracked, but did its job well, much like everything else on the Wani. Zuko sighed, hands bracing the sink before him in something akin to despair. He breathed in once, twice, before opening his eyes and facing the monster in the mirror.

The first time Zuko saw his scar, he laughed.

It was fitting, he thought, to bear the mark of the flames burning the flesh of a God.

It's Lore Time!

It shouldn't come as a surprise that I'm a sucker for narrative foils. Having a character be Touched (blessed, cursed, all the same) by a godlike spirit is just about the best excuse possible to chuck in as many parallels as one can think of.

That being said, I'm curious. Did you catch it at first read?

The fact that, while Zuko bears a scar from fire, Agni's face is forever burning.

(The first pic isn't supposed to be Agni, but rather Nightmare Zuko from my Perfect Prince comic. You get the idea, though.)

There's something about the imagery of it all, as well as the metaphor expressed masterfully in Zuko himself. Fire is all about the dichotomy. It's about savagery and control. Energy and burn. Gentleness and all-consuming rage. Fire is life. Fire is destruction.

A beautiful face forever burning, forever scarred.

Two halves of the same whole. All things the same.

.

Chapter VIII: Make You Stay

Read here.

In chapter II, Ming confessed that she had been one of the Royal Guards assigned to the Agni Kai arena when Zuko was burned. She helped General Iroh get him out of that place and heal him, given that medical attention was prohibited by the Fire Lord. Ming has stayed by Zuko's side ever since, but the Agni Kai still haunts her.

“I was nineteen!” she yelled, slapping the table. “I was nineteen and all I could smell was burnt flesh! That fucking scent still comes back every time I see him. It broke me and it wasn't even me! I wasn't the one who—I wasn't—I was nineteen and I wasn't ready!

When Yoi tells her in chapter VIII that Zuko is planning to go on a suicide mission, she panics and the Agni Kai comes rushing back to her mind.

Something quite interesting happens, though. Not only here, but also later on, during her conversation with Zuko.

See if you can catch it.

Ming felt the cold like never before. It was pumping in her ears, freezing the sweat on her nape, masking the thunder of her chest, tearing at her flesh—at her soul.

Rise and fight, Prince Zuko.

She snapped back into focus and sprinted away from an oblivious Yoi.

(...)

She refused to cry in front of Zuko. Not for this. Not after…after…

You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher.

Then so be it.

Zuko stared through her. She looked away.

Then so be it.

Haven't you noticed something a little...odd, about this AU? I mean, besides the spirit shenanigans, obviously. I'm talking about something that's missing. Something pivotal about Zuko's journey that just isn't there. The only word not yet written.

Avatar.

A larger threat, Zuko couldn't be allowed any chance to return to the Fire Nation. Not even a disgraceful mockery of an impossible mission. There's no chasing after the Avatar here. There's no looking for the last airbender (Zuko's previous visits to the Air Temples had a different motivation).

Zuko's banishment was a one-way ticket. And Ming just told us the reason why.

You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher.

(With open eyes and the misdirection of Agni's burning touch over his shoulder, Zuko had no reason to cower. So he stood up. He faced his destiny with honor and resignation. This was a test, wasn't it? Agni's challenge for his child...)

Then so be it.

(That line wasn't Ozai's to deliver.)

[thefandomenchantress]

I know I predicted radio silence from me...But I had what I think is a cool idea and wanted to share it before anything gets disproven in the next episode (Brief, singular mention of the Eden!Culprit theory).

So, I saw a lot of people talking about the Arei-Eden parallels, and the Ace-Arei parallels (and differences), and the Min-Eden parallels in the hug scene...Because of that, I started thinking about how Eden and Ace relate to all the others. And then I remembered the very obvious Teruko-Ace parallels.

Ace and Teruko both trusted someone who betrayed them in one way or another. Teruko with...Well, everyone, and especially Min, and Ace with Levi. In chapter two, they're both pretty similar, being closed-off and trying to not care about others with varying degrees of success. And, of course, Ace almost dies just like Teruko did, in an attempted murder.

All those things are fairly obvious, especially them being the only participants to be almost-victims. And I'd always noticed that, but it got me thinking...

In chapter one, Teruko was the victim of an attempted murder, surviving on the pure luck of the knife just-so-happening to miss anything vital in her abdomen. Then, instead of sympathy for her life almost being taken, people are upset with/suspicious of her because they think she was the one who killed Xander. And that fact is no fault of Teruko's, she just had the misfortune of being at the scene of the crime (and Min moving the evidence to further incriminate her). Barely anyone asks if she's okay or shows much concern other than Min, who betrays her, and Eden. She is then forced to defend herself in the trial almost completely alone until finally some others start to come to her defense.

In chapter two, Ace has been put in the position of being the victim of a murder attempt but surviving through the pure luck of Eden and Teruko just-so-happening to come to the second floor late at night. If Teruko hadn't happened to forget her clothes on the second floor, chances are that Ace would be dead. No one feels sorry for what Ace went through, because he was a total asshole to Nico and along with no one taking him seriously to begin with, they think he, in a way, had it coming, trauma and injuries be damned. Now, he is forced to defend himself, presumably alone unless Levi decides he wants to help and be the Eden equivalent. And Ace has been blamed for Arei's death not through any fault of his own, but because he had the misfortune of being at the scene of the crime, where someone else tried to murder him.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it would honestly be pretty cool if Ace finished this chapter going through rather similar events to the ones Teruko experienced last chapter. Some people say that Ace being her parallel will show her during this chapter that distrusting isn't the right way to go, but he doesn't have to die to show her that at this very moment. Hell, it might hit even harder if he manages to go through everything she did, since it would make them even more similar.

Plus, if Eden is the Min parallel, and Ace is the Teruko parallel, that's pretty dang cool! Of course, if Ace does all the Teruko stuff during the trial, it makes sense for Eden to have done all the Min stuff...And I mean, the episode seems to be saying that's depressingly possible, so maybe.

So yeah, I just thought Ace and Teruko's similarities continuing into the trial would be fun. After all, he's been pretty consistent about following in her footsteps so far, so you never know. Like imagine if he says a protag line or something it'd be hilarious. Especially if all his points during his defense are like Teruko's, but with an Ace-y twist that makes them more funny or stupid or whatever. Fun!

Or who knows, maybe Ace will just hire David as his defense attorney, since he's the only one to have successfully defended Ace so far. /j

[olive-fics]

can we reverse uno your loser abby and see some loser reader. i always think about what modern abby and i would be like in the stories here and honestly lmfao, i'd be hiding in my college dorm playing botw ft'ing ellie and she would be the concerned RA that wonders why i never leave my room and sit in the dark all day. on a good day i think we'd parallel percy and annabeth

Oh my gosh YES. I'm not much of a BOTW player so I cannot make any references. (sorry.) not proof read and not very thought out..

LoserReader!: who gets taken to the mall by Abby knowing you would try to stop at every video game store, pop culture, or figurine store to find something related to your favorite show or videogame just to end up not buying it. Abby spoils you anyway.

Abby:"I'll just buy it for you. . It's only like..$50."

Y/N:"$50..??"

Abby: "I'll spend $50 on you, it's your favorite game so.. why not? Plus, you're my girlfriend."

Gf!Abby: who notices you replaying your favorite game over and over again even though she just bought you a new video game you BEGGED for last week.

Abby: "Breath of the Wild..? Again.? What about that one game I jus- Nevermind."

Gf!Abby: Who isn't much of a gamer but still wants to support you, comes back from stores and stops by after work to get you something related to your interest.

Abby:"It's just a little figure, I saw it on the display and thought you'd like it."

Y/N:"LEMME SEE!"

Gf!Abby: Who leaves for work at 9am, coming back from work at 5pm seeing you in the same place she saw you in before she left. Either in your bed or on the couch playing your video games on call with Ellie Williams.

Ellie:"Dude Holy shitt! You didn't tell me this part would be so difficult..! Y/n!"

Gf!Abby:Who takes you to anime/Gaming conventions to be a nerd and watch you fangirl over your interests.

Y/N:"Abby! Abs! Look! This is the limited edition collector's Figure from 2006 that has the-" You get the point.

Gf!Abby:Who cosplays your favorite character's and plays video games with you to make it more fun.

I feel like Abby would be the type to make you do the same with her interests in a way? Like we all know she likes to work out, I feel like she'd drag you to the gym or into the studio to lift some weights and do yoga or something.

Sorry if these sucked, I took a long break now I'm brain dead lol

[odileeclipse]

CHAI LATTE COOKIE MY QUEEN. NOOOOO 😭😭😭💔💔💔. DON'T WORRY WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT PROMISE OF A SLEEPOVER STAYS IN LINE. I CAN'T SHE'S MY FAV. YOU'RE HURTING ME ODILE. It's the way MC notices right away how something's wrong with just a flicker of expression even if just a miniscule. They immediately comforted her. Reassurance. It really shows how much time they have spent together to know if any of them are bothered by something and how much they KNOW each other to that extent. They all know each other so well to know when or not to push each other's buttons or when to reach out whenever one's feeling down. That's how true and real their friendship is. Other than that, how I feel through Chai Latte's perspective is also very reasonable that she's a bit hurt, because it feels as though she is slowly losing her friend. I think she's a bit afraid that MC's visits to SMC's office will increase from once to frequent and they wouldn't be able to spend anymore time together anymore like before all of that, it's like losing something precious that had always been a part of your life. Afraid that moments like those would be taken away.To other people it might have mean little but to her it means the whole world. Something that had always been between them. Theirs to keep. ALSO I'D PAY TO SEE MC SING. What would they even sing though??? Lololol. AND WEDDING??? WEDDING??? WHEN?!?!?? LMFAO. Tbh I wouldn't mind if Chai Latte was the one writing the vows girly deserves it. LOLOLOLOL. Now imagine if they said THAT infront of SMC I would've probably died from mortification T∆T

Also FLOWERS MENTIONED, THE RARELY MENTIONED ONES TOO GAHHHHHHHHH. THE WAY HE DESCRIBES US IS JUST GRAAAHHHH. I EXPECTED ANYTHING BUT AN ORCHID???? WOAH. And his type and favourite flowers are just so fitting too unexpected but who is he if his answer is not always unexpected??? I was curious of what each flower means and boy oh boy this is what I found. In general Delphiniums symbolizes an Open Heart, Ardent Attachment and Lightness and Levity as shown below:

Assuming that he likes the color blue the blue one means:

Now for other symbolisms they also mean Positivity and optimism, Protection and Goodwill, Ambition and striving in other cultures:

I DON'T KNOW IF YOU DID THIS ON PURPOSE BUT IT FITS HIM A BIT TOO WELL. NOW FOR HELLEBORES. They are a bit special in this case. They have two meanings one positive and the other negative let's start with the positive one:

HOW DOES IT FIT SO WELL???

Now for the negative meanings for this flower...

.....you did this on purpose didn't you.... 💔

And the fact that each color of the hellebores also means something is quite terrifying I'll pick the scarily accurate ones first:

...like... Okay... I see you Odile...

Now for the other symbolic meanings for this flower:

GRAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Okay last one I PROMISE. Orchids. Funnily enough I also have an orchid flower that I'm currently taking care of in my garden. Purple and white. And it's growing real beautiful <3

Alright that aside generally Orchid flowers often symbolize:

....oh?. OH. So that's what he means by rarity LOLOLOLOL.

Orchids in this case can symbolize lots of things and in this case these are the meanings by color:

Why do most of them describe MC a bit too well HELLO????? Okay I'm done- I promise I'm done-

ALSO THE PARALLELS????? I SEE YOU ODILE. I SEE YOU. the other chapter with MC sleeping on his shoulder, him confessing his thoughts out loud how he's certain about their relationship and feelings, content with not having to call it anything because it's just that. something REAL. TRUE. How he confesses that he'd NEVER forget about them even as they pass on. That the moment between them is not something fleeting it's something that will linger on even as centuries past because they are the one who has unraveled him, the one who is true to him. Something that is said aloud while the other is unaware. Whereas MC found him sleeping and takes this moment to confess aloud how uncertain they are about how to call all of this, is it love? Or out of kindness? Infatuation? They are uncertain in a way. And how they confess on how scared they are that he would forget all of this as time passes on, a fleeting moment easily discarded by time. When in reality he does NOT think that at all 💔💔💔. They're scared because it all feels real and not some sort of dream made up by the mind to wake up to. AND THE TWO OF THEM ADMIRING EACH OTHER FACES WHEN THE OTHER IS SLEEPING IS JUST SO GRAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

And I really appreciate how MC decides to stop asking questions that they are not yet ready to breach because of his vulnerable state. They are so considerate and it just makes me love them even more as a character even though they are technically us XD.

Anyways have this image of me dying from happiness after reading this GOD SENT FIC FROM THE HEAVENS.

Sorry for rambling dude, cause like as soon as I saw the flowers. I HAD TO FIND THE MEANINGS TO EACH ONE-

Okay I just want to say I'm so glad my moots are as crazy about this fic as I am/pos

I did my research for these flowers and I've been building the story around this it took me a LONG time to settle on a flower that would be true to the characters there are so many other choices but these specifically spoke out to me. The MC in this story really fits orchids, and I also own many and have owned many orchids, and they are just the loveliest flowers ever that require so much support to bloom, but without it they are still so reslilient, they take so long to bloom without proper care, but once they have that support we (me and the plant) Fall into a steady rhthym and when I least expect it I see her in all her glory in full bloom beautiful and rare...(sorry I rambled about my own plant but she's like genuinley so incredible!!! I was glad to see her bloom after 3 years of no bloom.)

anyways back to the story, yes the parallels are something that also stand out to me, because smc is stable while MC is unstable, because they have different ways of viewing things, different approaches, which can be an issue. MC while it is noble of them not pushing further questions because of his vulnerable state, MC also did it because they're afraid of what the answers could be. This is not a spoiler since we've seen it time and time again that while...(I lost my train of thought I keep trying to remember it and IT WAS SUCH A GOOD RESPONSE TOO BECAUSE I LOOKED AROUND THE OFFICE STYLE TO TAKE A MOMENT TO REFLECT AND THEN I LOST IT)

But to MC the unknown is more comforting than reality. I think it's true for a lot of people which is why I made them this way. Next chapter is also very good imo not to gas myself up or anything...

(UH ALSO to anyone who messages me on other platforms and such I have not really been online due to exams and such I promise I am not ignoring anyone on purpose it's all due to me being exhausted after I get home from studying so that's why updates have been super slow recently <3),

please ignore any typos

[fivie]

I just finished rereading umw (+ enjolras's pov) for the idk-what time and, as always, I ended up in awe with your writing and the level of detail in the story

the parallel of Feuilly being a ghost in Jehan's house after what he did to Jehan's great-aunt, Cosette's charm becoming relevant again, everyone mentioning so many times that Combeferre needed help and now Courfeyrac is there… make me wonder if the story you envisioned more than 10 years ago has changed (besides the timeline in the Supernatural universe) or if you have regretted something you wrote in chapter 5 that now has to be connected to the plot of chapter 25??

I've never written a fanfic and I don't know what the process is like, but I've worked in writing and if I read my previous projects, I always find something I'd like to change haha (you're a better writer, tho)

thank you so much continuing this story, you deserve nothing less that days filled with sunshine 💛

hello!!

Oh god yes the story has changed so much since its inception 😂 I dove into it with a vague idea of how I wanted it to go and then swiftly lost all control of it. It was initially meant to be a reasonably short 10 chapters (lol) and the ending was going to be completely different from what I have planned now. Also my most terrible confession is that, initially, Feuilly was only dead in the story bc I was relatively new to the fandom, he was by far the most neglected of Les Amis in the fandom at the time, and I just didn't know what to do with him. Like I said, this was meant to be a short, relatively low-commitment project so I was like, okay I don't know that guy and it's on-brand for the SPNverse to have someone be dead, there's an obvious solution here.

Then it became clear that this was not, in fact, going to be a short, low-commitment project, and I got more attached to Feuilly as a character, and then I was like, hey you know what else is on-brand for an SPNverse story?? Bringing a dead character BACK 8)

Also also in very early plans, Bahorel was part of the Lyon gang which is absolutely bizarre to me now in hindsight lmao. I definitely resigned myself to my fate and sat down and started planning things properly pretty early on, though, because Enjolras and Grantaire go to Lyon in chapter 3 and, thankfully, as you probably noticed, Bahorel was not there. I'm very glad that I pivoted on that early enough that I could have the current versions of Bahorel and Feuilly, I've become very fond of them 😂

As for stuff I regret, it doesn't really impact the later story all that much, but I think one of my biggest regrets is not having a better answer to the question of Enjolras's parents. I think them being completely absent from the story, even as Enjolras reconnects with his friends from his civilian life, would have been something I could have gotten away with better in my originally envisioned, shorter version of the story, but now that the story is so long and so detailed about most other things, it bothers me that Enjolras's relationship with his parents has gone unexplored and it feels like it would be a bit late to shoehorn it in now. I probably should have just had them be dead, or have stated early on that Enjolras was estranged from them even before he went into hunting. It's been vaguely alluded to that he had a poor relationship with them and has no wish to reconnect, but it's a point of the story that I find weak and wish I'd handled better.

If I read over the old chapters, there are definitely things I want to change, but...y'know. I got new chapters to write. I ain't got time to look back 😂😂

Thank you for the message! Hope you enjoyed your re-read :3